Just wanted to ask this question because I honestly don’t know—Not sure if it’s because I’m on SBI and most Anet devs are on AR or whatnot, but how often do the devs play?
Do people see them in LB ranked matches?
How well do they perform/what classes do they use?
[VZ] Sky Avalon – Guardian (Main)
Master of all Professions
sPvP Rank Dragon – 8 Champ Titles – Ruby Division
We play PvP quite often, actually. Some of us are more “casual,” while others are more hardcore. Some of the devs have even competed at the high level in various games before joining the team. We experiment with new builds and countering the meta as well.
We won’t compete in the game because that is not fair to the players. We do however play rated matches occasionally (usually during our Friday play sessions). If you want to for-sure catch us in game, come play from 5-6pm PST on Fridays. Many of us play outside that time as well, though at random times and days.
Most of us are hooked up to the Shoutcast Notifier and will keep an eye on high rated matches to see how the meta is up top as well.
We do also have systems to tell us what things are run the most/least, etc.
Like, I have a full-time job 8am-5pm but I feel like I play more spvp than any of the devs and it’s their game. It’s like letting the a high school organization host the NBA even though they have no idea how to play at a competitive level. I don’t mind them ignoring every single freaking suggestion thrown at them minus one or two that somehow made it through—but it would really make me feel better if I knew at least one of the devs there really understood how to play this game competitively and watching competitive tournaments only doesn’t count. You’d be surprised out there on how many users for all sorts of applications and technologies know more about what they use than the creators.
[VZ] Sky Avalon – Guardian (Main)
Master of all Professions
sPvP Rank Dragon – 8 Champ Titles – Ruby Division
In a perfect world here is how it works. The devs, at least one or two, play spvp a good bit. They don’t have to be pro’s and play 40 hours a week but they have to be playing enough to have a solid grasp of what is going on. Then, if they aren’t kidding themselves, its easy to go through the feedback on the boards and find the good stuff because it will echo there internal thoughts or it should again if they aren’t kidding themselves. They also should be looking at robust internal data to help them make decisions besides there own experiences and player feedback. To me if you see that a class has spiked from like 10% of the match rosters to 25%+ thats a red flag. They have access to tons of data like that.
My personal feeling is that they rarely or very casually (like less then 10 hours a week)play spvp and they solicit feedback privately from a few players they think are elite and they are getting bad or conflicting feedback from some of these guys.
In a perfect world here is how it works. The devs, at least one or two, play spvp a good bit. They don’t have to be pro’s and play 40 hours a week but they have to be playing enough to have a solid grasp of what is going on. Then, if they aren’t kidding themselves, its easy to go through the feedback on the boards and find the good stuff because it will echo there internal thoughts or it should again if they aren’t kidding themselves. They also should be looking at robust internal data to help them make decisions besides there own experiences and player feedback. To me if you see that a class has spiked from like 10% of the match rosters to 25%+ thats a red flag. They have access to tons of data like that.
That is true, ideally they should have systems that tell them which traits/builds are being used and what team comps/professions are becoming more common in queued matches, etc. Maybe they don’t have such a tool yet and/or a guy/algorithm that can analyze the data that well.
I wish devs could give some #realtalk about frustrations about the current meta if they had any. Not sure if it’s a taboo for their corporate world to express negative truth.
But honestly, no one has seen any devs in matches as of late? I guess they could be hiding on non-Anet accounts.
[VZ] Sky Avalon – Guardian (Main)
Master of all Professions
sPvP Rank Dragon – 8 Champ Titles – Ruby Division
We play PvP quite often, actually. Some of us are more “casual,” while others are more hardcore. Some of the devs have even competed at the high level in various games before joining the team. We experiment with new builds and countering the meta as well.
We won’t compete in the game because that is not fair to the players. We do however play rated matches occasionally (usually during our Friday play sessions). If you want to for-sure catch us in game, come play from 5-6pm PST on Fridays. Many of us play outside that time as well, though at random times and days.
Most of us are hooked up to the Shoutcast Notifier and will keep an eye on high rated matches to see how the meta is up top as well.
We do also have systems to tell us what things are run the most/least, etc.
So yeah, all those things and more.
With all those systems and tools, how come you cant come up with an actual decent “Balance” Patch!? o.O’
However, thanks for the response Allie. Its good that there is some variety in perspective, and understandable that you would want to have a life outside of your game.
Also, warrior being top dog makes sense from the perspective of attracting more casuals: it is the most played class by a wide margin. They want new people to feel like their class helps them be great. Its also good when there is a beginner class that can be effective. The only balance concern is that warrior (an other passive classes/builds) is pretty much the BEST right now, while also one of the easiest. It needs to be a little less effective than the other, harder classes/builds.
They ignore the request of the good players and listen to the casuals.
There are enough players who could fix pvp with just a little tweak of numbers, if given the chance.
Here’s a hint: Listening to your players is never a good idea. Players will inevitably have a much more subjective view of the game than the game’s designers will. Player feedback can and often is valuable, but it should never be the sole basis for making a change to your game.
No one knows everything there is to know, or can see something from every single angle. You’re kidding yourself and dramatically overstating your own importance if you think otherwise.
They ignore the request of the good players and listen to the casuals.
There are enough players who could fix pvp with just a little tweak of numbers, if given the chance.
Here’s a hint: Listening to your players is never a good idea.
No one knows everything there is to know, or can see something from every single angle. You’re kidding yourself and dramatically overstating your own importance if you think otherwise.
Not to mention a handful of them stomp all over the ‘top players’ trying to tell them how to do things every time they play anyway.
If you’re not playing to win, don’t complain when you lose.
With all those systems and tools, how come you cant come up with an actual decent “Balance” Patch!? o.O’
Ok for you and anyone else that think like this [Or that Anet have Magic button that fix everything but they just don’t want to push it], WOW its been around for 7+ years . Do you see WOW able to “Balance” that game out?
With all those systems and tools, how come you cant come up with an actual decent “Balance” Patch!? o.O’
Ok for you and anyone else that think like this [Or that Anet have Magic button that fix everything but they just don’t want to push it], WOW its been around for 7+ years . Do you see WOW able to “Balance” that game out?
At least wow ALWAYS had multiple viable builds for every class.
I played Mage, Druid and Rogue in all aspects of the game and I played it for 6 long years since beta. Mage and Druid were PvP Rank 13 (Max was 14 at the time).
It was possible to spec deep into any of the 3 talent trees and be effective.
In this game, atm only Warriors have more than 1 competitive spec. Every one else is FORCED to play the same old spec to have a chance of being effective in PvP.
As a Thief I have been playing S/D for over 6 month, although i try different specs and weapon sets I ALWAYS end up going back to S/D 10/30/0/30/0 or 0/30/0/25/15 in both cases the play style is exactly the same.
You can never compare Blizzard with A-net. Although I don’t like them I have to admit that they are very competent at what they do unlike other companies.
